Urban mobility readiness refers to the level of preparedness of a city or region to effectively address the challenges and opportunities related to urban mobility. It involves assessing the existing transport infrastructure, services, and policies, as well as the readiness of the city’s institutions, stakeholders, and residents to adopt new mobility solutions.
Key Trends
In defining the new transport paradigm, four key trends were identified in the 2022 Urban Mobility Readiness Index.
- Connectivity: The global pandemic has hindered the connectivity of established transportation hubs in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Uncertainties over the long‑term impact remain as the market rebounds.
- Public Transit: Remote work and lockdowns have jeopardized the public transit agencies’ model. Solutions to bring commuters back have been experimented by cities with mixed results.
- Electrification: Electric mobility is gearing up with different dynamics across regions. European cities are leading the pack, followed by Asia, with US cities starting to embrace the transition.
- Automation: Automated mobility continues its testing in developed cities but the industry is struggling to find a virtuous business model. As road casualties are on the rise in North America, new technologies should be explored.
Key Dimensions
Succeeding in these five key dimensions is critical for a winning mobility ecosystem. Cities are targeting to achieve all these five dimensions to have a better mobility system.
- Infrastructure: Infrastructure metrics focus on static measures that are likely to remain near constant over time or are at least difficult to change, such as the density of public transit stations, the walkability of a city, and the strength of a city’s multimodal networks.
- Market Attractiveness: Market attractiveness is based on market‑driven metrics over which municipal governments can exert influence, such as the competitiveness and penetration of sharing‑economy business models in mobility, multimodal app maturity and availability, fleet management, internet connectivity, and the scope of international airport connections.
- System Efficiency: System efficiency metrics focus on controllable factors that are influenced by market dynamics and the public sector, such as public transport operating hours, public transport affordability, public transport reliability, and traffic management.
- Innovation: Innovation is a technology‑related metric linked to emerging technologies, such as connected autonomous vehicles, electrification, and advanced connectivity. It considers the city government’s investment and commitment to these technologies, and the city’s ability to attract and keep high‑tech labor and startups.
Top-ranking cities globally
Urban mobility has become a global focus in recent years as cities around the world face significant challenges related to congestion, air pollution, and climate change. Many cities have implemented a range of initiatives to improve their urban mobility, including expanding public transportation systems, developing cycling and pedestrian infrastructure, implementing intelligent transport systems, and promoting the use of electric and alternative fuel vehicles.
- San Francisco
In 2022, San Francisco became one of the world’s first cities to allow commercial operations of self‑driving cars. One of the key initiatives in San Francisco’s urban mobility strategy is the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), which oversees public transportation throughout the city. The city also offers various incentives to encourage residents to use public transportation, such as discounted transit passes for low-income residents.
- Stockholm
The city has implemented a range of initiatives to promote sustainable transportation and reduce congestion, making it one of the most pedestrian-friendly and bike-friendly cities in the world. Significant investments in charging infrastructure, combined with incentives to switch to electric vehicles, have boosted the market share of electric vehicles and turned Stockholm into a success story for electrification. It has the second-highest share of electric vehicles in Europe.
- Singapore
The city has implemented a range of initiatives to promote sustainable transportation and reduce congestion, making it one of the most livable cities in the world. Singapore has also developed a network of cycling and pedestrian infrastructure, including dedicated bike lanes and pedestrian walkways. The city has also implemented a bike-sharing program. - Sydney Sydney boasts a strong multimodal transport network, seamlessly connecting buses, trains, and ferries. It includes a fully automated metro system, which opened in 2019 and is one of the world’s most innovative transit systems. However, the public transit system still has a low density of stations, which makes them hard to access and results in low ridership.
- New York
The city has implemented a range of initiatives to improve sustainable transportation options and reduce congestion, making it one of the most pedestrian-friendly and bike-friendly cities in the country. However, New York’s transit systems need investment and modernization.
Focus on the Middle east
Most cities in the Middle East are developing, whilst African cities are currently lagging in their mobility maturity. However, some cities, including Dubai, Doha, Riyadh, and Jeddah, are rising in our Urban Mobility Readiness ranks.
Top ranking cities in the Middle East.
- Dubai: The city has invested heavily in its transportation infrastructure, with a particular focus on public transport. It has sought to develop fast, affordable, and sustainable public transit, with a multimodal app and automated operation on the metro lines with plans for the system to be net‑zero by 2050.
- Abu Dhabi: The city has implemented a number of other initiatives to improve urban mobility. It is implementing a strategy to manage driving speeds in order to reduce traffic accidents. Abu Dhabi International Airport is secondary to Dubai’s airport, resulting in fewer passengers and international connections. One of the most notable is the introduction of the Abu Dhabi Integrated Transport Centre (ITC), which oversees the development and operation of the city’s transportation system. The Abu Dhabi Metro is currently under construction and is expected to open in 2025.
- Doha: The city has invested heavily in its transportation infrastructure, with a particular focus on public transportation. The Doha Metro is a fully automated metro system that spans over 76 kilometers and has 37 stations. Residents generally favor personal cars over walking, but ride‑sharing is common among residents as well. Doha has also made efforts to promote the use of electric vehicles (EVs) by installing EV charging stations throughout the city and offering incentives for the purchase of EVs.
- Riyadh: The city has invested heavily in its transportation infrastructure, with a particular focus on public transportation. The Riyadh Metro has six lines spanning over 176 kilometers and 85 stations. Riyadh is accustomed to cars for hire, and residents have been quick to embrace ride‑sharing. Saudi Arabia has also recently announced its first EV manufacturing plant – which will help in achieving their stated goal of 30 percent of all cars within Riyadh being EVs by 2030.
- Jeddah: The city has invested heavily in its transportation infrastructure, with a focus on public transportation. Jeddah Metro has three lines spanning over 70 kilometers and 44 stations. Most trips in Jeddah are made by private car, and a low density of bus stations contributes to low usage of public transit.
